Asked for reaction to the Virginia Attorney General Cuccinelli's refusal to certify abortion clinic regulations approved by the state's Board of Health, Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Virginia gave the following statement:

"We are extremely disappointed that the Attorney General chose not to certify the regulations as passed by the Board of Health. There is no credible legal basis for the assertion that the Board does not have the authority to issue a regulation that grandfathers in existing health-care facilities from meeting construction and building codes adopted AFTER they were built. There is nothing in the Code (or the recently enacted law, Senate Bill 924, defining abortion providers as hospitals) that requires the Board to impose extensive, burdensome construction requirements that have no relation to the safety of the services that women’s health centers provide.

No other health-care facility has ever been forced to rebuild its existing structure to comply with the Guidelines for Design and Construction. The law clearly outlines that the guidelines are ONLY to be imposed on NEW construction and structures that are undergoing significant renovation. This is NOT about patient health and safety, this is about ending access to abortion in Virginia."